Nowhere To Rest, But More Room To Drive

The ROAD DOG

September 10, 2001|By Jim Stratton, Sentinel Columnist

DEAR ROAD DOG: Is there a good or even a logical reason why the Interstate 4 rest stops near SeaWorld Orlando are being demolished? They were closed some years ago after being rebuilt. WASSUP? Is this just another government make-work project?

Rudy Forster

ORLANDO

DEAR RUDY: We'll try to answer your question, but keep this in mind: If you ever -- ever -- send us another e-mail that contains the word "WASSUP," we'll drive to your house and, in front of God and your neighbors, perform the entire first act of Cats on the front lawn.

That unpleasantness out of the way, here's what we found:

The rest areas on either side of I-4 were shut down in early 1999 after the Florida Department of Transportation finished a review of rest areas around the state. The ones by SeaWorld were closed, in part, because there are so many other places to pull off I-4 in the Orlando area.

Padlocking the rest areas saved the state about $500,000 in repairs -- they needed new plumbing and some roof work -- and another $500,000 annually in operating expenses.

Now the rest areas are being demolished so FDOT can squeeze more cars onto I-4. The state is adding a lane in each direction, and it needs the rest stops for retention ponds.

At least the frogs will have a place to rest.

DEAR ROAD DOG: On south John Young Parkway, they're putting up new traffic light poles. The poles are tubular, and they have arms extending out over traffic. What was wrong with the cables strung between concrete poles? This seems like a lot of money to replace a perfectly good system.

Graham Smith

KISSIMMEE

DEAR GRAHAM: A perfectly good system, yes, but also a pretty ugly one.

You have to admit, the metal poles, which hide the tangle of wires, are a little easier to look at. But Orange County says the main reason it's putting up the new poles is because they're more stable.

In heavy winds, traffic lights strung on wires can start swaying. Because the lights weigh anywhere from 18 to 35 pounds, it doesn't take too much to snap a wire. The Florida Department of Transportation, in fact, won't hang lights from wires within 10 miles of the coast.

So, as part of the John Young widening project, the county is replacing the wire-hung lights between Whisper Lakes Boulevard and Hunter's Creek Boulevard. You can see a new setup at John Young and Town Center Boulevard.

The upgrade to greater stability isn't cheap. It costs about $70,000 to string lights from a wire. That's some $40,000 less than installing the mast-arm structure.

DOG SPOTS: Can you feel the love out there? An Orlando resident, unhappy her traffic problem's not yet been addressed here, wrote a warm little note explaining how "disappointed" she was. She signed off with, "Anyway, thanks for nothing."

An anonymous correspondent was even more gracious. His or her single-line e-mail simply said, "Go to hell you arogant [expletive]."